Method for laminating a component by means of a laminating tool with a laminating element

Abstract

A method for laminating a component by means of a laminating tool with a laminating element, wherein the component has a groove, wherein the component has a first surface and second surface, wherein the first surface and the second surface border on one another in the groove, wherein the method comprises the following steps: masking the first surface with a mask, wherein the mask has a resilient lip, pressing the resilient lip into the groove by means of the laminating tool, wherein the resilient lip is designed, after having being pressed into the groove, to mask within the groove a partial area of exclusively the first surface, laminating the second surface with the laminating element, wherein, due to the lamination, parts of the laminating element cover the mask, removing the parts of the laminating element which cover the mask.

Claims

1. A method for laminating a component by means of a laminating tool with a laminating element, wherein the component has a groove, wherein the component has a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface and the second surface border on one another in the groove, wherein the method comprises the following steps: masking the first surface with a mask removably positioned on the first surface, wherein the mask has a resilient lip, pressing the resilient lip into the groove by means of the laminating tool, wherein the resilient lip is designed, after having being pressed into the groove, to mask within the groove a partial area of exclusively the first surface, laminating the second surface with the laminating element, wherein, due to the lamination, parts of the laminating element cover the mask, removing the parts of the laminating element which cover the mask; and removing the mask from the first surface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the parts of the laminating element located above the mask are removed by guiding a blade in the groove.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resilient lip is arranged on a masking area of the mask, wherein the resilient lip and the masking area comprise a different material.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the coefficient of friction for the laminating element in the region of the resilient lip is lower than in the region of the masking area.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the resilient lip has a mount for reversibly fastening the masking area to the resilient lip.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lip is designed, when pressed into the groove, not to contact the base of the groove or not to fully the contact the base of the groove in the region of the first surface located within the groove.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the groove, as viewed in its direction of extension, has a bent course due to a bend of the groove, wherein the resilient lip has an incision at the edge of the bend.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the incision is V-shaped.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the laminating element is a laminating film, wherein, for the lamination, the laminating film is drawn over the component in a predetermined direction before the laminating film is connected to the component in a laminating manner, wherein the resilient lip has a first texture with a first preferential direction, wherein the first preferential direction is parallel to the predetermined direction.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resilient lip on its portion located within the groove has a second texture with a second preferential direction, wherein the second preferential direction points in the direction of the base of the groove.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resilient lip is designed, only when pressed into the groove by the laminating tool, to accurately adopt a shape in order to mask within the groove the partial area of exclusively the first surface.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the masking of the first surface with the mask comprises an application of the mask to the first surface, wherein the resilient lip has a shape which, before the lip is pressed into the groove by the laminating tool, prevents the resilient lip from infiltrating the groove.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resilient lip in its region to be pressed into the groove has a protrusion or a recess, wherein the protrusion or the recess is designed to support a complementary force-transmission element of the laminating tool for pressing the resilient lip into the groove.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Preferred embodiments of the invention will be explained in greater detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a view of a component with mask,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a component with groove and mask placed thereabove,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the component from FIG. 2 with laminating element,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a continuation of the view from FIG. 3 just before the removal of the parts of the laminating element which cover the mask,

(6) FIG. 5 shows a continuation of the view from FIG. 3 once parts of the laminating element have been removed,

(7) FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a component with groove and alternative mask, and

(8) FIG. 7 shows a further cross-sectional view of the component from FIG. 2 with laminating element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) Elements similar to one another will be denoted hereinafter by like reference signs.

(10) FIG. 1 shows a view of a component 100 which is to be laminated. Here, this component is a motor vehicle interior trim part, for example. The present description is not limited however to motor vehicle interior trim parts, but includes all types of trim parts, in particular also for aircraft and rail vehicles.

(11) The component 100 has a first surface 104 and a second surface 102. These two surfaces are separated from one another by a groove 106. This is clear again in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2. The objective is then to apply to the second surface a laminating element, for example a laminating film, without however also laminating the first surface 104 during this process.

(12) To this end, the first surface 104 is masked by a mask, wherein the mask has a resilient lip 108 and a masking area 110 connected to the resilient lip 108.

(13) As viewed in the direction of extension of the groove 106, that is to say from bottom left to top right in FIG. 1, the component 100 and therefore the groove in FIG. 1 has a bent course. In order to then ensure optimal masking of the first surface 104, even in the region of the edge of the bend, the resilient lip 108 has a V-shaped incision 112 at the edge of the bend.

(14) The shape of the resilient lip 108 is selected, as can be seen in FIG. 2, such that, before the lip 108 is pressed into the groove 106 by the laminating tool, the resilient lip 108 is prevented from infiltrating the groove 106. Only once the force has been applied in the direction 200 is the resilient element 108 bent over and thus introduced into the groove 106, whereby the mask self-positions itself with respect to the component 100. The result is shown in FIG. 3.

(15) FIG. 3 also shows that the resilient lip 108, once pressed into the groove 106, within the groove masks a partial area of exclusively the first surface 104. The second surface 102 is not masked by the resilient element 108.

(16) Once the second surface 102 has been laminated with the laminating element, parts of the laminating element cover the mask, in particular the masking area 110. By guiding a blade 400 in the groove along the resilient element 108, the part of the laminating element 300 which covers the mask can now be separated.

(17) The result of the removal of this part of the laminating element, which covered the mask previously in FIG. 4, is shown in FIG. 5. If the mask 108, 110 is now taken away from the component 100, the first surface 104 can be laminated with a further laminating element in a further laminating process. Here, known thermal laminating methods can be used, such as vacuum laminating methods and press laminating methods.

(18) FIG. 6 shows a variant of a resilient lip 108, which has a recess 600. This recess 600 may contribute to the fact that, when a complementary force-transmission element of the laminating tool is applied to the resilient lip 108 and in particular to the recess 600, a guided bending over and introduction of the resilient lip 108 into the groove 106 is made possible.

(19) FIG. 7 shows how the laminating element 300 can be introduced within a narrow groove 106. If the vacuum is not sufficient to shape the laminating element (300) into the groove, a shaping aid 700 may be used. This presses the laminating element 300 into the groove 106 during the laminating process. The resilient lip 108 yields and is placed against the partial area of the groove 106 that is to be masked. There is no risk of collision since the resilient lip 108 can compress and deform.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

(20) 100 component 102 second surface 104 first surface 106 groove 108 resilient element 110 masking area 112 V-shaped incision 200 direction 300 laminating element 400 blade 600 recess 602 direction 700 shaping aid